For a few seconds after my mother said she could not congratulate me for “defying God’s will,” no one moved.

kitchen sink.

Andrés held my hair back, then took my phone and turned it off.

“We are calling the doctor,” he said.

“I’m okay.”

“No. We are calling the doctor.”

My specialist, Dr. Valeria Moncada, told us to come in. She examined me, checked the baby, and turned the monitor toward us. There it was again. The flicker. The heartbeat. Fast and stubborn and continue reading …